Legal & Regulation

BATS Global Markets (BATS) has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission the BATS Client Suspension Rule, which would enable the company to take swifter action to prohibit manipulative behaviour, such as spoofing and layering, on the BATS Exchanges.
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) has issued a letter that exempts commodity trading advisors (CTAs) that are registered but do not direct any client commodity interest accounts from filing Commission Form CTA-PR.
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In order to continue the transition to a global system of legal entity identification, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) has issued an Order extending the designation of the utility operated by DTCC-SWIFT as the provider of legal entity identifiers, or LEIs, pursuant to the Commission’s swap data recordkeeping and reporting rules.
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A collaborative effort by Bermuda’s regulator and government, supported by industry stakeholders and the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), has lined up new legislation to position the Island as a strong contender among jurisdictions vying to meet European standards set for alternative fund managers.
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In today’s increasingly complex and evolving regulatory environment, fund managers expect their providers to have a sophisticated risk management framework that meets global, regional and local standards.
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Silver Law Group is investigating claims against a pair of self-described retirement planners who are alleged to have falsely promoted to customers the safety and profitability of interest in life settlements.
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Barclays Bank is to pay USD400 million to settle US CFTC charges that it engaged in the attempted manipulation and false reporting of global foreign exchange (forex) banchmark rates to benefit the positions of certain traders.
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On 15 April 2015, Cordium, a leading global compliance consulting, accounting, tax and software provider to the financial services industry, introduced a new compliance software solution called Pilot.
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Lawrence J Herzing, the former controller of Contrarian Capital Management, has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling more than USD9 million from the Greenwich-based hedge fund.
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The Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS), is seeking the release of USD1.249 billion out of a total USD1.499 billion being held in reserve under a September 2012 Bankruptcy Court order.
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) has issued an order granting a request from ICE Clear Europe Limited (ICE Clear Europe), a Commission-registered derivatives clearing organisation, for an order pursuant to Section 4d(a) and (b) of the Commodity Exchange Act.
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As of 1 March 2015, it has become mandatory for fund managers distributing their products in Switzerland to commission a Swiss legal representative and paying agent. Regulatory compliance is the name of the game when it comes to the service provided by UBS.
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The sands of time are running out for hedge fund managers wishing to continue distributing their funds to Swiss investors. As of 1 March 2015, any foreign hedge fund looking to raise assets in Switzerland from qualified investors will be required to appoint a Swiss legal representative and paying agent.
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Hedge fund managers have two options when looking to bring a regulated fund product to Europe. The first is to go the UCITS route, the second is to establish an AIF, under the much more recent AIFM Directive, which is a far less trodden path than the UCITS regime.
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Luxembourg-based Fuchs Asset Management is not your typical AIFM provider. Its heritage is firmly rooted in wealth management. Having now grown into a team exceeding 100 people, it took the decision to diversify its offering and set up an AIFMD-compliant management company, receiving its license from the CSSF last June.
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“I was in Chicago recently. A German pension fund said they had a USD500m allocation in a Chicago-based fund. They wanted to know that they could continue having a relationship with the manager and they said that having the depositary guarantee (under AIFMD) was important to their end investors. They told the manager that they wanted to put their USD500m allocation into an EU-regulated fund.
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The AIFM Directive may not be universally welcome but with greater focus being applied to compliance and operational risk oversight within the fund management industry, it is at least ensuring a new breed of higher quality fund manager; which for investors is good news.
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Last May, MS Management Services SA, a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the Maitland group, received authorisation from the CSSF to act as a third-party AIFM to alternative investment funds. At the same time, it established its own umbrella fund platform, MS SICAV SIF, to support managers wishing to fast track the process of launching an AIFMD-compliant fund in Europe.
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Two exchanges formerly owned by Direct Edge Holdings and since acquired by BATS Global Markets are to pay a USD14 million penalty to settle SEC charges that their rules failed to accurately describe the order types being used on the exchanges.
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The introduction of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) into European law in 2013 was part of a series of moves towards greater regulatory oversight of the hedge fund industry in recent years. In our survey, we asked hedge fund managers for their views on the effect of these new regulations on the industry as well as their expectations about the impact of the AIFMD on their firm over the next 12 months, the results of which are analyzed in this extract from the Preqin Special Report: AIFMD in the Hedge Fund Industry – 2015 Update.
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A couple of years ago, the title Chief Information Security Officer, or CISO for short, was a foreign concept within the hedge fund community. The winds have changed, however, as hedge funds become increasingly targeted by cyber hackers, causing many to hire a CISO to uphold the network integrity of the firm.
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Sovereign wealth funds, though small in number and secretive in nature, wield considerable influence as investors as a result of their sizeable assets under management. This extract is taken from Preqin’s latest report which features exclusive content from the 2015 Preqin Sovereign Wealth Fund Review.
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Mergers and acquisitions in recent years have changed the face of hedge fund administration. Big custodial banks are likely to dominate the HFA space in years to come, forming one part of a barbell with a number of well-run, well-capitalised independent HFAs on the other end. This report examines the implications for both hedge funds and their administrators... »

The North American private debt industry has seen substantial growth in assets over the last decade. This extract from the Preqin Special Report: Private Debt in North America looks at the current state of private debt fundraising and funds currently in market.
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